In the Face of Defeat
by NightWatcher666
Summary: The first arc in the Power Rangers: Frozen Star series. The rangers are unable to defeat Venjix as he conquers the Earth, so they they save as many people as possible and head underground. What hardships await them in hiding after the world is devastated.
1. Going Underground

**A/N: This is the first part of the Power Rangers: Frozen Star series. While not necessary to read The Next Year, there will be some questions you may have so I will answer some of them now. Tommy and Kim are married, as are Jason and Kat, as well as Billy and Hayley and Conner and Kira, they all have kids. Jeremy Hanson is the MMPR Green Ranger (If you're confused read TNY) and Tommy tends to favor his white ranger powers over red Zeo or Black Dino. **

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**Power Rangers: Frozen Star Series**

**In the Face of Defeat **

**Going Underground**

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2015:

Dr. Thomas Oliver along with his wife Kimberly and two children led a large group through the desert outside Angel Grove. They were followed by Jason and Katherine Scott, their children, Conner and Kira McKnight and their daughter, Ethan James, Jeremy Hanson, and Trent Mercer and his parents. They were leading a group of civilians and family members to the safest place any of them could think of. Andros, Ashley and their children were using the Astro Megaship to evacuate the Ranger's families, as well as any civilians that they could find off planet, but there are only so many they could take per trip. Life had become full of fear, death, and defeat since the initial Venjix attacks that destroyed most cities around the globe. Tommy marched on leaving thoughts of his destroyed home and town behind, choosing to simply try to focus on keeping his family and friends safe.

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In Blue Bay Harbor, the Ninja Rangers realized that they were fighting a losing battle. No matter how many grinders and Attackbots they took out they seemed to be replenished before they could call a victory, and now that their zords had been destroyed the six Ninja Rangers did the only thing that they could. They publicly revealed their identities and began getting as many people as they could into the relative safety of the Wind and Thunder Ninja Academies. Two of the rangers, Tori Hanson and her husband Blake Bradley looked out and took in the destruction around before entering the academy after the last group of people and sealing the doors leaving the rest of the world locked out.

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In Briarwood, assisted by Udonna and the Mystic Mother, the Mystic Force rangers successfully evacuated the scared townsfolk into the forest where Venjix cannot find them. The robotic forces appeared in the town just as the portal to the forest was sealed, and found nothing but an empty city completely devoid of any life.

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The Wild Force rangers were fighting bravely trying to give Princess Shayla enough time to get as many people to the Animarium as possible. Eric Meyers, the Quantum Ranger stood by his wife Taylor as his friend Wes Collins and Cole Evans were finishing off a group of grinders. "Leave some for us", Eric said as he stepped towards the Attackbot that had just appeared. With one Cannon blast it sent the rangers flying into the ruins of a nearby bank, causing some of them to demorph from the impact. Cole stood up and faced down the attackbot. The attackbot laughed as it fired another shot from its cannon. Cole dodged the blast as he pulled out his morpher and flipped it open, "Wild Acce…..", he was cut off by a lout crashing sound from above. Cole looked up to see a large mass of metal falling towards him. He tried to jump out of the way, but didn't move in time and was crushed beneath the debris. Alyssa screamed as she saw her husband killed, and began to cry when his morpher skidded across the ground stopping at her feet. "We've got to go, now" Eric called as he rounded up the rest of the rangers before teleporting them all to the Animarium, leaving the city and destruction behind like a bad memory.

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Billy completed the latest teleportation sequence using the Long Range Teleporter that he had built from diagrams that the Aquitians had sent him. His wife Hayley was busy getting the rest of the power up sequence finished so they could begin rebuilding the underground areas of the command center. He looked over at his sleeping daughter Cestria and smiled. In the ten years since he returned to Earth, he still thought fondly of his old love, and since they were still friends Billy had named his daughter after her. He laughed slightly out loud, which to him sounded a bit off since there really had not been much happiness going around for the last couple weeks. Cestria had fallen asleep while rewiring the intradimensional communications array. He quickly finished the job and activated the array. As soon as Hayley flipped the last switch, the lights came on to full and the rest of the computer consoles came back on. Billy looked at the empty energy tube in the front silently wishing that Zordon were here, but at least with very generous donations from interested parties the old command center was rebuilt as a power ranger museum for the public. Unknown to the public however it was also built so it could return to active duty when needed. He sighed from pure exhaustion, having been up for three and a half days straight trying to get the systems up and running, as well as finding ways off planet for as many people as possible. He could not rest yet because the remaining rangers that were unable to secure safety were all heading to the command center with their families in a hope to find a safe harbor to wait out the Venjix attacks.

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Tommy and his group arrived at the rear entrance of the old Power Chamber shortly before 3pm, and after scouting the area and determining it was safe and free of Venjix Attack-bots, he lead the group into the caves that housed heavily damaged remnants of the Power Chamber. Even though the Command Center was rebuilt, little attention if any was paid to the chambers below it. Upon reaching the doors to the power chamber, Tommy pointed down a tunnel, "Conner, Trent, and Kira take Elsa and Jason and scout the tunnels, see if you can find anything useful under all this mess." Kira squeezed her seven year old daughters hand as she looked at Tommy. "Shannon will stay with me, Kim, and Kat. She'll be safe, I promise", Tommy said to reassure her. Kira had been hard pressed to let go of her daughters hand since this whole ordeal started, and certainly was not comfortable to do so now. She bent down and gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before handing her over to Kim and joining the rest of the scouting group. Once they were gone, Tommy turned to Anton and Ethan and said, "I'm going to need your help. I want to be able to monitor the situation outside without risking our detection, and I don't know what kind of shape the equipment here is in." With that he turned, and opened the doors to the Power Chamber, for the first time letting a non-ranger in.

After several hours of painstaking work, Ethan said, "Dr. O! Over Here, I've found something odd that I think you should take a look at!" When Tommy reached him, he looked at the screen in front of him. Not believing what he was seeing, he turned to Ethan, and said "When was this message sent?" Ethan pushed a few buttons on the control panel and replied, "This message appears to be less than a month old, Tommy, What does it mean, and where exactly is Inquiris?"

Tommy looked at Ethan and Anton, and replied "Inquiris is the home planet of one of the ranger's former mentors Dimetria, and truthfully I have no idea what 'Find the Frozen Star' means."

Hailey, who had teleported into the chamber after the sensors in the main Command Center went off looked over Tommy's shoulder said "Wait, What was that?" There was a string of numbers at the end of the message..." Ethan pushed a few more buttons on the control panel, going back through the message until Anton said "Stop, there... That's it... Those look like coordinates on a Star Chart."

Tommy copied down the coordinates and turned to face the others," Ok well, we will look into it later. In the mean time, how are the Security systems coming Anton?'

Anton replied "The perimeter sensors are functional, though their range is only about 1500 feet at this point. The internal sensors appear to be somewhat functional, but I'm not sure how accurate their readings are, they are detecting nearly 60 people in the caves around the power chamber, and if I am reading this right, some of them appear to be rangers."

Anton jumped when he heard a piece of metal hit the floor. "Sorry," Tommy said, "I could have sworn you said the internal sensors are detecting 60 people, some of whom appear to be rangers."

"I did", Anton replied, "And if I'm reading this right, Trent and the other rangers are with some of them right now. Why don't you call them and ask for an update"

Tommy looked at Anton like he had three heads, "Call them?"

Anton just nodded his head towards Tommy's wrist, and pointed to his communicator.

Tommy looked down and said "Oh, right, I forgot."

Hailey and Ethan looked at each other, and shared a knowing glance that said "If his head wasn't firmly attached he would lose it."

Meanwhile, Tommy had regained his sense of composure enough to hit the "Talk" button on his communicator. "Trent, your dad said he picked you and the others up on internal sensors along with about 60 other people, is that accurate?"

Trent replied "Hey Dr. O, yeah, there are a bunch of people and their families down here." In the background Tommy could have sworn he heard 'Dr. O, Tommy?" in the background, right before Trent screamed, "Hey, that's my arm, I'm kind of attached to it!"

"Trent", Tommy said into his wrist, "Are you OK?"

"Tommy, is that you, it's Justin, who are these guys, and why are they calling you Dr. O"

Tommy sighed as he replied "Justin, yes, it's me, I'll head down to see you and the others in a bit. Would you mind giving Trent his arm back?"

Justin answered "Oh right, sorry, yeah Tommy, I'll see you shortly".

Tommy looked around the ruins, "Let's start setting up. First order of business is to get some rest; we'll make living arrangements for everyone tomorrow." With that he left the chamber to meet with the others in the caves.

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**A/N: This was originally a prologue, but since it's now over 10,000 words (And we're still not done) we've decided to break it up into its own story. Again most things that it has in common with The Next Year have already been posted in that story, other than a few characters and slight backstory this is stand alone. As Always please read and review.**


	2. Coping

**In the Face of Defeat**

**Chapter 2**

**Coping**

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Six months later…

At the Wind Ninja Academy Tori Bradley was sitting on the floor playing with her five year old son Simon when her husband came in. The look on his face told her that he had news, now the only question is which kind was it. He looked around the small room they all three shared and felt a small sting of sadness. His son should be outside playing in a big back yard and put to bed in his own room at night, but here he was sharing a small room at a martial arts academy with his parents who live in fear everyday that monsters were going to break through the walls.

"Cam received a transmission this morning", he said to his wife, "There are survivors on the east coast."

"That's great news", Tori said as she tried standing up. Once she got up she placed a hand on her back to support her seven month pregnant form, "What are we going to do to help them?"

"Nothing", he said eliciting a stern look from his wife, "From what we can tell, they are safe. They've even had a team of rangers come into being recently."

"New Rangers", she said thoughtfully, "Maybe they'll end this and we can go back to our lives."

Blake took his wife into an embrace, "I hope so, I really do."

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It was a very somber day at the Animaruim. The people who called it home always worried when the rangers went down to the city to look for supplies. Alyssa's son Richard along with Eric and Taylor's twins Kate and Collin and Danny's son Elizabeth waited at the teleportation point for their parent's safe return. Their eyes widened as they saw a ripple effect, which signaled that the system had been activated, but their hopes fell when they saw the twin's mother fall to the ground unconscious and bloody. Her husband rushed to her side and picked her up.

"We need to get her to the infirmary now", he shouted, running through the crowd of people.

A few hours later Eric saw Alyssa sitting on a bench outside the medical tent they had constructed. "Hey", he said as he sat down next to her, "Doctor says that she'll be alright, she just needs to rest for right now."

"I can't deal with this anymore", she said through her sobs, "First I lose my husband then today I almost lost my best friend. How can we keep out there, all the while we know that we may not come back?"

"We knew the risks when we took the job", he said somberly, "It nearly kills me every time we go out there. I hate putting my wife in situations like today, and my biggest fear is that the kids will lose one or both of their parents."

Eric's communicator beeped on his wrist, and he gave Alyssa a slight smile as he answered, "This had better be good, I'm not a big fan of leaving my wife when I'm needed."

"_We got a signal_", Wes' voice came through the device, "and y_ou'll want to hear it._"

"On my way", Eric said with a tone of annoyance in his voice.

When he arrived at the operations area he walked over to his friend and looked at him sternly. "My wife almost died today, and the kids are worried sick."

"I know, and I'm sorry", Wes said sincerely, "But the signal we received has a ranger signature."

Eric perked his head up when he heard this, "Visual?" he asked.

Wes shook his head, "Audio only." He pressed the play on the console and a crackly voice sounded over the speakers.

"_This is Tom… Oliver, I.. br…casting to any that can hear my voice. We ha.. five hundred refugees in the caverns undern…. The original command center. I am sending a series of frequenc…. so that any who receive this can keep in contact. Everything since the initial attack has been laid wasted, but there is hope. We have confirmed that there is a city of survivors and they have rangers that are fighting Venjix. I … to talk to you soon, Dr. Oliver out."_

"At least we know they're alive", Eric said, "I'm going back to my family; let me know when you establish contact."

Wes nodded as Eric left the area heading back to the infirmary.

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Nick Russell sat on a bench outside Root Core with his wife Madison while their daughter Anna played with the other children. Somehow someone named Dr. Tommy Oliver had broken through the magical barrier of the forest to get a message through to the rangers. When his father told him, he was ready to go on a trek to find those people, but was forbidden by his mother Udonna. She told him that these people were safe for the time being and didn't require help, but he still wanted to go. It was actually his wife who convinced him to stay.

"It's not fair", he grumbled quietly.

"What's not" Madison asked.

"We're safe here; we have food, water, shelter, and the means to meet most of our desires. They live in caves under some old building. We should be out there helping them, not sitting here twiddling our thumbs."

"Sweetheart", Madison said, "For the time being they're safe, and we would endanger everyone by leaving the forest."

"No, I would take Fireheart"

"Nick, please wait till your parents establish contact", Madison begged.

Nick nodded as he kissed her and went back to watching his daughter play.

Several hours later Nick was called into the tree by his mother. When he got there he was greeted by his father and Mystic Mother. He looked up on the screen that had been set up and saw a stern looking man with glasses looking at him. Nick gulped when he saw him because even through the screen he could see that this man commanded a ridiculous amount of power.

"You're sure you don't need any help?" Udonna said to the screen.

"We're ok; we have food and water, and have scavenged anything else we need from the ruins of Angel Grove."

"Hello Thomas", Mystic Mother said to the screen, "I'm glad to see that you are alright."

The man on the screen looked at her as if she had grown a second head before regaining his composure. "Thanks Rita", he said shakily, "You're looking much better than the last time I saw you. What exactly is the situation there?"

"Well thank you." Mystic Mother replied, "And before we go any further, I want to apologize for everything my husband and I put you through in the past. I know twenty years is a long time, but we really have changed. As far as the town goes, it was evacuated without incident, and we have plenty of food and water."

"Good", Tommy said, "We will be able to keep in contact now, so if the situation changes we'll let you know."

"I don't get it", Nick butted in, "Are you so proud that you don't want our help? We have everything we need here, there's no reason to stay in those caves."

Tommy paused for a second and, looking directly at Nick, replied "That may be, but we have all the supplies we need, and we are well protected here. To move the over 500 people that we have in these caves would almost certainly draw unwanted attention to both of our locations, and we definitely don't need that right now, on top of that this Command Center is the only link that those of us in hiding can use to communicate with each other."

Nick accepted this and nodded his head, "I'm sorry", he said somberly.

Tommy smirked, "I know how powerful the urge to help others can be for a ranger, especially a Red."

"How did you know I'm a red?" Nick asked.

"Son, I have been a ranger five times, and two of them were as a red… and the bright red shirt is a dead giveaway too."

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Conner, Kimberly and Kat entered the McKnight quarters to bring Shannon home for bed. They were about to leave for a gathering mission into the ruins of Angel Grove and Conner wanted to make sure they were asleep before he left. When they got there he found Kira sitting on their bed crying. He knew that she liked getting out every so often just so she could see the sun, but being six and a half months pregnant, it wasn't an option. Ever since she was told that she couldn't morph she did mainly "Office" duties which consisted of monitoring sensors, communications, and the ranger bio signs while they were out in the field. Many days she felt depressed because she hadn't been outside the shielded area in months.

"Hey Rockstar", Conner said hoping to receive a small smile.

"Hey", she replied in a downtrodden voice.

"What's wrong babe?" he asked.

Kira sighed as she placed a hand on her stomach, "I just want to go outside."

"You can go outside whenever you want"

Again she sighed, "It's not the same when there's an energy barrier blocking you off from everything."

"I know it's hard, but it's going to be OK", he said trying to cheer her up.

"OK", she said with a touch of anger in her voice, "The world's been pretty much devastated, we're cut off from so many people we care about, and we live in a damned cave. So tell me Conner, how is it going to be Ok?" Once it dawned on her how badly she snapped at Conner she fell back on the bed and started sobbing.

Conner rushed to her and pulled her into his arms, "It's going to be Ok because we have each other, our family, friends, and so many other people who depend on us. It's going to be OK because we have to give our kids the perfect life and if we need to endure hardships to make that a reality, then that's what we'll do.

Kira slowed her tears and returned her husband's embrace, "I'm sorry, I just feel so useless sometimes."

"Don't", Kim said as she sat down on the bed next to them, "Besides, you're not the only one who has been pulled from active duty."

Kira's eyes widened at the revelation, "You mean?"

"Yup", Kim said with a wink, "Seven weeks now."

"That's great", Kira said pulling Kim into the hug as well.

"The best part is, since I have some pull with the boss, we'll have matching shifts in the Command Center."

Kira got off the bed, and put her shoes on when she heard a knock on the door, "Must be Crystal", Kim said, "She volunteered to stay with Shannon tonight while we work."

Kat opened the door, and sure enough Kim's 11 year old daughter was standing there with her arms full of games and toys.

"I know I'm helping and all, but Mom when do I get to work up in the Command Center?" Crystal asked Kim.

"You know the reason why your father hasn't let you", Kim said sternly.

"I know, Dad tells me constantly that he needs me to help with some of the younger children while the rangers keep up safe and retrieve the supplies we need."

"You should listen to him", Kat said, "I'm sure that you're in line to make ranger one day, but in the mean time you have to prove you're ready by being where you're needed."

Once everything was Taken care of, the four adults bid goodbye to the kids and headed for the main Command Center. When they got there Tommy, Billy, Trent, and Ethan were already waiting. Kim and Kira took their positions at the computers as Tommy filled them in on his nightly safety check.

"Remember that's it's dangerous out there, stay morphed at all times, and if you come across any people that are in need place a teleporter tag on them so we can get them back here immediately. This is a supply run only, if you see grinders or attackbots do not engage, do I make myself clear? I want everyone to come home tonight."

The five other rangers nodded before morphing and teleporting out as a group.

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**A/N: Here is chapter 2. I hope you like and as always read and review.**


	3. Exodus

**In the Face of Defeat**

**Chapter 3**

**Exodus**

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2016 (One year after going underground)

Tori and Blake were woken up by an explosion in the compound followed by the crying of their four month old son. Tori went to his crib while Blake stepped out to see what was going on. When he made it outside he was confronted by at least fifty grinders plus an attackbot that had made it through the walls of the academy. Without saying a word he slipped back inside and grabbed Marah, who was heading out herself to see what the commotion was. He led her back to his room told her to stay with the kids as he grabbed his morpher.

"What's going on?" Tori asked when he tossed her morpher into her hands.

"Time to go to work", he said with a grim expression on his face.

"THUNDER STORM, RANGER FORM!" He called as he transformed into the navy Thunder Ranger.

"We'll never be safe at this rate", Tori said as she readied her own morpher.

"NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM!"

By the time they made it outside Shane and Dustin were already fighting the grinders.

"Nice of you to join us", Dustin said as he cut the head off one of the grinders using his ninja sword.

"Well you know, If it's not the baby, it might as well be a monster that wakes us up in the middle of the night", Blake replied.

"Where's Cam?" Tori asked as she landed a kick to the knee of another grinder, "Shouldn't he be out here helping us?

"He's making preparations to get us out of here. We need to buy him enough time while he gets that taken care of", Shane yelled.

"I understand", Cam yelled into the monitor so he could be heard over the explosions, "We'll send the civilians to the forest, the ninjas to the Animarium, and we'll come to you.

"If there are any separations, we'll take care of it after we verify that everyone is safe", Tommy said as he finished programming the sequence.

Cam set the self destruct on his equipment and ran out the door to join the other rangers. A moment later the whole academy was bathed in light and the Venjix forces found themselves standing in an empty courtyard.

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At the Animarium, a large number of wind and thunder ninjas materialized. They looked around slightly confused until they were greeted by Eric and Wes. They were shown to their respective living areas so they could get cleaned up and rest for a bit until they were needed to fill the others in on what had happened.

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Back in Briarwood, the Mystic Force Rangers were busy fighting off a wave of grinders, trying to give Udonna and Mystic Mother enough time to evacuate the civilians to the magical world. Moments before the evacuation was complete, and the rangers retreated, Kilobyte, a Venjix general, appeared, intent on capturing the rangers, and finding out where they had been hiding, as he had been given orders to find and convert the people of Briarwood. Kilobyte looked around, and saw the portal to the magical world, at which he said "At last, now I will complete my mission." Nick, having overheard this, looked directly at Kilobyte as the portal was closing and said, "Not today you're not!"

Once the portal was closed Kilobyte let out a scream worthy of a human, filled with anger and frustration at having yet again failed Venjix. Once he calmed down, he contacted Venjix. Venjix who was quite unhappy with Kilobyte's repeated failures in regards to capturing former rangers, ordered Kilobyte to return to the palace, making him walk the entire way.

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At the command center, Tommy got a very worried look on his face as he was completing the transport of the Thunder and Wind Ninja Rangers. The teleporter wasn't designed to transport that many people to that many locations, in that short a period of time, and he was starting to see warning lights on the console. Tori, Blake and Shane appeared in the command center exactly where they were supposed to along with Simon and Sean, however Hunter, Cam, and Dustin were nowhere in sight.

Elsewhere, in the caves under the command center, Justin was walking towards the entrance to the Power Chamber, when suddenly he was knocked to the ground. Panicking and thinking the caves had somehow been invaded by grinders, he immediately started trying to throw the attacker off of him only to hear him say, "Dude relax, we're not going to hurt you."

Justin, realizing that he wasn't under attack shook his head to knock the cobwebs loose and said, "Uh, ok, but who are you guys?"

Cam, who was trying very hard not to laugh at the situations Dustin always managed to find himself in, replied "We're the ninja rangers, and we were supposed to be teleported to the command center to see a Tommy Oliver, but something must have gone wrong".

Justin immediately hit the talk button on his communicator and said "Tommy, I think I found something you may have lost…."

Tommy, not understanding what Justin was talking about replied, "Justin, not right now, I'm busy trying to find the other Ninja Rangers. Three of them, and their children made it to the command center just fine, but the others…"

"Just landed on top of me", Justin interrupted.

Tommy was about to say, "What do you mean, landed on you?", when they all walked into the command center, looking more than a little confused.

The first to speak was Dustin, who said "Whoa! That was wicked, what happened? How'd we wind up in those caves?"

Tommy was about to answer when sparks shot out of the console next to him. "We overloaded the transporter, so you were slightly off target, now what did Justin mean when he said you landed on him… you know what… never mind, I really don't want to know." Tommy answered, shaking his head.

Hunter was the next to speak, and said "At least we all made it in one piece, is there anything we can do to help for the time being?"

"Not unless you know how to repair a long-range alien teleporter without the needed parts!" Tommy replied a bit too harshly. Once it dawned on him what he had said to them he closed his eyes to gather his thoughts before saying, "I'm sorry, it's just, it's been a very long year, and we've essentially been trapped in here without a break, trying to keep this equipment running constantly under far more stress than it was ever intended to."

About that time, Anton and Elsa walked into the Command Center, unseen by all, as Cam spoke up and said "If you want the help, I will be happy to take a look at the teleporter and see if there is anything I can do."

Anton chose this moment to make his presence know, and said "What's wrong with the teleporter?"

"We fried it evacuating the ninja academies, and I don't think we will be able to get it working again anytime soon!" Tommy exclaimed.

"May I take a look?" Anton asked. "Even if we can't get it working I may be able to modify the systems to create a version of the invisaportal network."

Tommy groaned inwardly before replying "As much as I hate to admit it, invisaportals might not be a bad idea. The teleporter has been tracked in the past, and there is a chance Venjix could do it as well."

"Why don't we setup a permanent invisaportal at the Animarium, and maybe one inside Root Core, so that we aren't all quite so trapped in here?" Cam piped up.

"Hmm," Tommy said, "that would make it much easier for us to coordinate our efforts, and it would allow us all to be not quite as confined to these caves. Can it be done Anton?"

"Yes, I believe it can, but I'm going to need as much help as I can get." Anton replied.

"Then let's get on it", Cam said as he punched up information on both locations on the computer.

"Elsa, if you wouldn't mind getting Billy and Hayley up here, they more about how these systems are currently configured than anyone." Anton said.

"Not a problem Hon, I'll be happy to if it means we can finally get some fresh air." Elsa replied.

"The Animaruim won't be too much of an issue, but we need to find some way through the inter-dimensional barrier leading to Root Core", Cam said as he reviewed the data.

"Luckily Billy has the most experience with inter-dimensional travel of anyone I know", a very pregnant Kim said as she took her seat at one of the computers.

Meanwhile, Tommy was busy on the communicator attempting to coordinate his efforts with Wes and Eric at the Animarium, as well as Udonna and Leanbow at Root Core, trying to determine the best places to put their respective invisaportals.

About five minutes later, Elsa returned with Billy and Hayley, who looked less than pleased, as they had been enjoying a brief nap after a long day of looking after their daughter, Cestria.

"If this isn't an emergency, I am going to hurt you Thomas Oliver", Hayley said irritably.

Immediately after she said that the console sparked again and the front panel blew off from a power surge causing both Billy and Hayley to stare wide-eyed at Tommy in disbelief.

"What did you do?" Billy asked with shock evident in his voice.

"Oh, nothing much," Tommy replied dryly, "Just teleported about 600 people to three different locations in less than 2 minutes and blew out the teleporter in the process."

Billy scoffed slightly, "Did you activate the overload compensators? I did install them for a reason."

"We didn't have time unfortunately; the ninja academies were under attack by grinders and we had to get everyone out." Tommy said as the console next to him continued to crack and pop ominously. "It was a, 'Speak now or forever hold your piece' moment."

At this moment Anton interjected, "We were thinking that we may be able to turn what's left of the equipment here into a modified invisaportal network."

"I got it", Cam said excitably, 'Like I said, the Animarium is a non-issue since we can get a permanent portal set up there that can be opened or closed at will from either end, but in Root Core we'll have to build an energy receiving unit so we can create a stable path without affecting the barrier."

"How are we going to get them the parts they need, and whose going to build it?" Tommy asked as he sat down in a chair next to Kim.

"I believe I have an answer for that", they heard as Udonna's voice came over the communication system speakers. I will send my son Bowen on Fireheart to collect the components and an engineer to construct it."

"I'll go", Anton said, "I have the most experience with the technology."

"That sounds good Anton, but it's Billy that has to go since he has his ranger powers to protect him should anything go wrong. He can easily communicate with you from Root Core if need be." Elsa said.

"I'm afraid that I must agree", Tommy said, "Billy is the best choice."

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**A/N: Here is chapter three. The next one is quite long so it may be a little while before posting, and also I am working on a new chapter for The Next Year so don't worry. Please read and review.**


	4. Painful Goodbyes and Hellos

**In the Face of Defeat**

**Chapter 4**

**Painful Goodbyes and Hellos**

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(Three days later)

Billy appeared outside the shield that surrounded the Command Center. He was already morphed, and it was a good thing too because it was the first time that he had been outside during the day in several months so the dark visor was a welcome part of the suit. Tommy stepped up beside him clad in his white ranger Armor, and Hayley and Cestria each held on to his hands. Ethan, Trent, Conner, Kira, and Jason all stood watch in case something happened since Hayley and Cestria had no ranger powers to rely on in the event of an attack. A few minutes later they saw a Dragon fly overhead with a red ranger on its back.

"Daddy" Cestria said tugging at his glove slightly, "Is that a real dragon?"

"It certainly is sweetheart", Billy said with a slightly muffled voice because of the helmet.  
"I want to ride him", his daughter remarked.

"I'm sure you will someday", Hayley said as she watched in awe as the dragon gracefully made its landing.

The red ranger jumped off its back and made his way over to the rangers.

"Are you a wizard?" Cestria asked the ranger.

He chuckled beneath his helmet and got down on one knee in front of her, "Yes I am; my name is Nick, what's yours?"

"Cestria", she replied shyly.

"And Miss Cestria, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

She smiled brightly, "I want to be a blue Power Ranger, just like my dad."

Nick took off his helmet so he could give the girl a proper smile, "I have a daughter about your age, and she wants to be a blue Power Ranger like her mother."

The other rangers loaded the equipment onto Fireheart's back, and soon it was time for them to leave. Billy took off his helmet and squinted as the sun hit his eyes. He turned to Hayley and took her hand in a loving manner.

"If all goes well I should be back in a couple days", he said as he looked into her eyes.

Hayley let a tear escape before giving him a kiss, "I'm counting on it she said."

He handed Hayley his helmet and bent down to give his daughter a hug, "I'll miss you Squirt", he said.

Cestria threw her arms around her father and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll miss you too Daddy."

Hayley kissed the front of his helmet for luck like she did every time he went out and handed it back to him. He was just about to put it on when Tommy's communicator went off.

"_Tommy_", Kats voice came through the device, "_Kim has just gone into labor._"

"But it's too soon", Tommy replied.

"_I'm aware of that_", she replied dryly, "_I am a doctor, you know a real doctor._"

"So what do you need me to do?" he asked.

"_How about get your ass in here!_" he heard Kim scream from the background.

Billy put his helmet on and climbed up on the dragon behind Nick as Tommy waved a goodbye before activating an invisaportal taking them back inside the Command Center.

* * *

Tommy rushed down to the hospital ward that Kat had set up when they first arrived, and found himself looking into a death glare from Kim as she screamed in pain. Tommy shuddered inwardly, he still remembered what she was like when the twins were born, and this didn't look like it was going to go any better.

"It's about time you showed up Bird-boy, if you had missed this Venjix would have been the least of your concerns", She yelled at him.

"Kim, I'm sorry", Tommy said.

"Sorry?" She yelled obviously in a lot of pain, "I can't believe I let you do this to me again!"

"Kim, you need to calm down", Kat said, "You know that the added stress of yelling isn't helping." Kat having seen her during the birth of the twins knew that Kim got angry and spiteful under the stress. She said things to Tommy that even Lord Zedd didn't hear after kidnapping her. They all knew she didn't mean it and it was very common for this to happen, but with Kim's small frame the added stress wasn't good.

"I'll calm you down Katherine", she half yelled and half screamed.

"Can't you give her something for the pain?" Tommy asked.

"Too late", Kat said as she checked on Kim's progress, "Alright Kim push."

Tommy offered Kim his hand and instantly regretted it. He winced as she squeezed his hand, and as she gave her last push he could have sworn that he heard a snap.

"You have a son", Kat said as she brought the baby up to meet his mother.

Kim took the baby in her arms and looked loving at Tommy, "I'm sorry about the way I spoke to you."

Tommy smiled as he looked down at his wife and newest member of the Oliver family, "Hey, forget it."

"So what are we going to name him?" Kim asked as she ran a finger down his cheek.

"We should name him after Jason", Tommy said.

Kim shook her head, "No, I think we should name him after you."

"Why not both?" Kat added in.

"Thomas Jason Oliver", Tommy said but Kim scrunched her nose.

"I think I like Jason Thomas Oliver", she said.

"I'd like to keep him here for a few days to monitor him", Kat said as she brought over a crib.

"Is something wrong with him?" Tommy asked.

"Not that I can see, but with premature babies you can never be too careful."

"Hey", Jason said as he poked his head into the room, "Feel like some visitors?"

"I think I'll be ok for it", Kim replied.

Jason stepped into the room and was followed by David and Crystal.

"Hey kids", Kat said as she was cleaning up.

"Hey Aunt Kat", the twins said together. "Is mom ok?" Crystal inquired.

"She's just fine", Kat replied.

David and Crystal walked up to the bed and watched as their parents introduced them to the newest Oliver.

* * *

Wes, Eric, and the rest of the Wild Force rangers were finishing up a supply mission to the ruined Turtle Cove when they suddenly came under attack. This was the same attackbot that had killed Cole as well as severely injured Taylor several months ago so Eric automatically took a defensive stance to protect his wife. He couldn't see her eyes through the visor of her helmet, but he knew she was afraid to face this monster again even if she wouldn't show it to the rest of the team. Wes instructed the rest of the rangers to take the supplies and head back to the Animarium before he went over and took a defensive stance with the man he considered to be his brother and his wife. Taylor stood there frozen in anger and fear. She knew her husband and Wes saw it, but she refused to let this mechanical abomination see it as well. They all dove in different directions as the monster fired a shot from its cannon. The blast hit an old car causing it to explode. Taylor screamed in pain as the axle from the destroyed car landed on her leg pinning her to the ground. Wes and Eric both scrambled to get up when they saw the monster start walking over to Taylor. She closed her eyes as the monster took out a very large lethal looking spiked sword and held it over its head preparing to impale her with it. She heard a scream and opened f her eyes after a few moments when her painful death didn't come, and what she saw horrified her. Wes was over her with the sword sticking through his chest. He looked over at Eric and gave a thumb up before going unconscious and falling to the floor demorphed. The monster was about to pull it's sword out Wes when a hooded figure jumped over a pile of debris landing a kick right into the middle of its chest. The monster stumbled backwards, but before it could regain its bearings the cloaked person pulled out a large energy rifle and shot it in the head. The attackbots head was blown clean off and the rest of it fell to the ground in a heap as the hooded person kneeled over Wes. The person put an odd looking device on Wes' forehead stopping all movement and appearing to instantly freeze him in that moment of time. The person then removed the axle from Taylor's leg before turning to Eric and removing the hood. Eric gasped as he saw the face, it was older than when he had last seen her, but unmistakable. "Jen", he said as he carefully stepped towards her, "What are you doing here."

"I had to come", she said sadly, "I had to come and save Wes."

"I'd love to hear all about it", Eric said, "But I think we need to get out of here first.

Eric helped Jen pick up Wes, who was now stiff as a board. "What did you do to him?" Eric asked.

"I put him in a form of suspended animation, but the stabilizer only has enough power to last about twenty-four hours. If we don't get him help by them, he'll die".

"Then there's only one person who can help us", Taylor said walking beside them with a slight limp.

A little while later they were back at the Animarium, and while Jen and Taylor were with the medical staff Eric was trying to contact Tommy at the Command Center. Once he managed to get a connection he saw an unfamiliar face sitting at the screen.

"This is the Command Center, how can I be of assistance?" the voice asked.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know you", Eric said.

"Right, this isn't my usual post. I'm Jeremy, Green Ranger."

"I need to speak with Dr. Thomas Oliver."

Jeremy looked at the screen, "I'm sorry, but Dr. O isn't available. His wife just had a baby."

"Please", Eric said adopting a less gruff tone, "This is an emergency, a life or death emergency."

After a few minutes Tommy's face appeared on the screen and it was clear that he was less than pleased to have been disturbed.

"What can I do for you Eric?" Tommy asked.

"We have a medical emergency and need transport to the Command Center"

Tommy looked grimly into the screen, "What kind of medical emergency."

"Wes is dying", Eric said bluntly, "He was stabbed by an attackbot. We have him in stasis but we only have about 20 hours before he dies."

"Our teleportation system is nonfunctional. We're working on an alternate method, but it's not online yet. I'll see what I can do and contact you in one hour."

* * *

**A/N: Here is chapter four. My co-author and I have written this as only long chapter (Was originally just going to be a prologue) so we've decided to break it up. I hope you like the story so far and as always please read and review.**


	5. Things We Must Do

**In the Face of Defeat**

**Chapter 5**

**Things We Must Do**

**

* * *

**

Tommy pounded the console in frustration before calling down to the medical ward to speak with his wife and Kat. Kim was none too pleased, but understood the urgency of the situation, and Kat started preparing her surgical bay. Next Tommy called for Anton and Hayley to come up to the main control room to see how quickly they could get the invisaportal system operational.

"It can't be done", Hayley said.

Tommy looked at her with a completely straight face, "It has to be."

"No, you don't understand", Anton said, "The system is unbalanced. They only way to make sure they even have a chance to make it through it to send two other people, therefore putting all four at risk."

"Can you stabilize it enough for one trip?" Tommy asked, "That's all I ask Anton, one trip."

"I suppose, but it could damage the system further", Anton replied.

"We still need two people to send", Hayley interjected.

At that moment Conner and Kira walked in for their shift in the control room. Kira jumped slightly as the three people in the room looked over at them.

"How would like and all expense paid trip to the Animarium?" Tommy asked.

"With or without the kids?" Kira asked.

"Without them unfortunately", Tommy said.

"Then, no", Kira said, "I'm not leaving my kids for any longer than I have to."

"But you go on the supply missions", Conner said trying to make her see his point.

Kira sighed in annoyance, "That's different, I'm a ranger and it's my job to do what is needed to keep people safe."

"Then this is in your job description", Tommy said, "There is a ranger at the Animariun that has been critically wounded, and in order to get him safely here we need two people to go there so the invisaportal will stay stable."

"Did you say invisaportals?" Kira asked.

Tommy nodded silently preparing himself for what she would say next.

"Are you crazy", she said, "Every time I go through one of those damned things some big lizard is waiting on the other end." Realizing she snapped she looked over at Anton, "I'm sorry", she said.

"I'm fine", he replied in a dignified manner, "Besides it wasn't my idea to pick on you."

"Look Kira", Hayley said, "I understand, but this really is a life or death situation."

Kira nodded, "Who will take the kids?"

"I will", Hayley said.

"Alright, I'm in", Kira said, "When do we leave."

"As soon as we finish these modifications", Anton said.

Half an hour later, Elsa walked up behind Conner and Kira as they were saying their goodbyes to Shannon and Matt and said, "Anton has finished the modifications, and we need to hurry, Wes is running out of time."

Kira sighed, and said "Ok, let's get this over with."

As they walked into the command center, Tommy was just finishing his conversation with Jen. When he noticed Conner and Kira he said, "OK, We're ready, but don't enter the portal until I say it's safe."

Conner grabbed Kira by the arm as she tried to scoot backwards and dragged her over to the portal. They reluctantly took a deep breath before nodding to Tommy. As they were entering the portal, they could just make out Tommy saying "Ok, Jen, go now!"

* * *

Before they knew it, both Conner and Kira were on their backs, looking up at the trees above them. Conner was admiring the sky when he suddenly heard Kira's Pterascream. Alarmed, he jumped to his feet expecting to be surrounded by grinders, only to see Kira pointing at very scared, defenseless looking iguana that was clinging to a rock for dear life.

The next thing either of them knew, they were laughing hysterically when Tommy's voice came through the communicator. "Did everyone make it ok?"

Kira replied "OK? OK! I came through the portal, and what happened? Once again I was face to face with a freaking lizard!"

Conner hit the talk button on his communicator "You should have seen it Dr. O, it was hysterical, there was an iguana sitting on a rock near where we landed and Kira freaked out."

"Ow", he said as she sharply punched him in the arm.

"I can't believe I married such a jerk", she said as she got up off the ground, "You just remember this next time you feel the need to find 'tyrannodrones'."

Tommy laughed, and replied, "Well I'm glad everyone made it in one piece. We are working on getting the portals fully functional, in the mean time, enjoy your stay at the Animarium, and I will keep you updated."

"So what do we do now?" Kira asked as she looked around the forest.

"You did say that you wanted to get away from it all for a little while", Conner replied still rubbing his sore arm.

"Yes," Kira replied "but that was six months ago when I was trapped in the command center and pregnant… and besides, I meant I wanted to go to a hotel or somewhere that I could be pampered, not go camping in an overgrown forest."

"And here I thought you weren't girly", Conner replied with a mischievous smile, "Ouch, not the other one."

"Learn to keep your mouth shut Jock", she said clearly satisfied with herself.

"Am I interrupting something?" Eric said as he stepped out from behind a bush trying to hide a smile.

"Just her beating my ass", Conner said now trying to rub both arms.

"I know the feeling", he said as he bent down and picked up the iguana, "I married a yellow too, and let me tell you that your friends will never let you live it down when your wife sends her zord out to find you because you're late for dinner."

Conner and Kira both started to chuckle as Eric turned around and looked at them, "What? It only happened once."

"That's all it would take", Conner replied with a smile of his own.

"Uh huh", Eric said as he pet the iguana, "Well let's head back, I'm sure you'd like to relax some."

* * *

Tommy entered the medical ward and saw Jen sitting on a chair nervously. "Hey", he said as he walked up to her.

Jen jumped to her feet and extended her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Oliver."

Tommy took her hand and shook it as well, "Call me Tommy", he said, "And it's nice to formally meet you too."

Tommy motioned for Jen to sit down and took the chair next to her. A moment later Kim came out of her room holding Jason and followed by the twins.

"I'd like you all to meet Jennifer Scotts", Tommy said to his family, "She's the Time Force pink." Tommy them motioned to his family, "This is my wife Kim, our twins David and Crystal, and this here is little Jason."

"Are you really from the future?" Crystal asked and Jen just nodded.

David walked over to his father and asked, "Is Mr. Collins ok?"

"I don't know yet", Tommy said sadly. Kim grimaced as Tommy said that. Eric and Wes were both ushers at their wedding and she hated seeing Tommy look so worried.

"Hey", Kim said, "You need to stop worrying so much, unless of course you want even more gray in your hair."

Tommy ran a hand through his hair that was now almost shoulder length as he gave his wife of eleven years a slight smile, "I'm not going gray", he said to here.

"You're a power ranger, a father, and the leader of this community of over five hundred people, top it off with the fact that you're creeping up on forty and I think any man would go gray", Kim said as she sat down.

There was a loud bang as the sword that Kat had extracted from Wes fell to the floor. Everyone jumped at the sound and Jen gasped at Kim's now empty arms. Kim looked down and sighed, "Tommy, him too."

Jen looked at Kim confused, "What do you mean him too?"

"Let's just say that it's a family trait that they get from their father", Kim said as she tried to calm the newborn down and make him reappear. "You should have seen Kira and Conner's kids, not only can they scream the walls down literally, but they learned to crawl at mach speed."

Jen chuckled a little bit, "I never knew I came from such an interesting family", she promptly covered her mouth when she realized what she just said.

"Excuse me", Tommy said bewildered.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that", Jen said as she tried to get up only to be stopped by Kim.

"I think I would like to hear more", she said.

Jen sat back down and sighed, "I really shouldn't."

"I think it's a little late now", Tommy said as he crossed his arms.

"Alright fine", Jen said, "It is well known in my family that we can trace our roots directly back to Doctor Thomas Oliver and Kimberly Ann Hart, two of the greatest rangers to ever live."

"So we're like your grandparents?" Kim asked.

"Separated by nearly a millennia, but yes", Jen responded.

"And which of our kids leads down to you?" Tommy asked.

"I can't tell you, it might disrupt the future and endanger my own existence", Jen replied.

"Well", Kim said, "In that case, welcome to the family."

"This could be very interesting", Tommy said, "We've determined that the Dino powers are genetic, I wonder if your exposure to the active Dino Gems will cause some of our abilities to manifest in you, after all, there is no telling whether or not your line has crossed with that of any of the other Dino Rangers as well."

"Abilities?" Jen asked, "What do you mean abilities?"

"Well, as you've no doubt noticed my kids and I all have the ability to become invisible. As Kim mentioned, earlier, Kira has her Pterascream, and Conner has super speed. Ethan has super strength, and impenetrable skin, and Trent has camouflage as his ability, as well as a limited version of super speed. This could be interesting depending on whether or not your family tree has crossed with that of the other Dino Rangers at any point." Tommy said.

Kat walked out of the surgical bay wearing bloody gloves as well as a bloody apron. She took them off and placed them in their proper receptacles before walking up to the others.

"I've done everything I can", she said, "There was a lot of damage to his organs and he's lost a lot of blood."

"Will he be ok?" Jen asked.

"It's up to him now, I'm keeping him in a coma for the time being, but I'm afraid the outlook isn't good."

At that point, Jason walked into the room. He noticed Kat first as she shot him a look and said "Relax Honey, Elsa is guarding the kids." Before turning to Tommy and saying "Tommy, Anton asked me to tell you that the invisaportals should be stable enough to transport one person by themselves within the next hour. Also, as a thought, the Zeo crystals may be able to help Wes now that Kat has done the hard work. They did rebuild the command center, and return all of you to your correct age."

Tommy looked at Kat, who thoughtfully replied "But we're missing three pieces of it, and we have no way to get them because they are off planet."

"Good point," Tommy said, "I will have to check the logs from the time and compare them to some of my data, but we may be able to use the Dino Gems to help offset the missing pieces of the Zeo crystal, although I'm not sure what exactly the side effects of doing so, if any, might be."

At this point, Jen, who had been watching the back and forth between the two, decided to interject "ENOUGH! Wes is dying, if you can use the crystals to save him, just do it already. I don't care if he glows in the dark for crying out loud. Use whatever crystals you need to, hell use the trizarian crystal from Eric's Zord, as long as it doesn't blow us all up, I don't care!" She paused as she saw everyone staring at her, "Sorry, I've had a long day, and I've come too far to let him die, so just do whatever you need to do to save him already."

"We can't", Tommy said, "At least not till we can get Conner and Kira back."

"How does Jenny feel about babysitting?" Tommy asked Jason and Kat.

"She's always looking for something to do", Jason said, "and if Crystal is helping, well you know that those two are joined at the hip."

Crystal popped up as Tommy looked at his eleven year old daughter, "Alright Squirt, I need you to go and get Jenny, go to the Crantson's to watch Cestria, Shannon, and Matt. Also tell Hayley that we need her in operations. David, you're coming with us, we have a lot of work to do."

"I'll keep him as stable as I can", Kat replied.

"I'm staying with the baby, but if I can help let me know, and she's staying with me", Kim said as she motioned to Jen.

* * *

Several hours later the invisaportal system was running smoothly thanks to all the extra manpower that went into building it. After a few minutes they brought the system online, and Kira and Conner back to the Command Center.

"That had to be the shortest vacation I've ever been on", Kira said as she picked herself up off the hard floor.

"We were gone for less than a day", Conner said as he did the same.

"That's the life of a ranger", Tommy said, "Remind me to tell you about our class trip to Australia sometime."

"No offense Dr. O, but I'm not in the mood for a story from the olden days right now," Kira said.

"I still think it's funny that none of the Dino rangers call you by your name like everyone else does", David said.

"It's because I used to be their teacher", Tommy said, "But right now isn't the best time to discuss thing like what people call me Sport."

Tommy walked over to a vault and entered a combination. Once the vault opened he grabbed his Dino morpher and slapped it to his wrist. "It's been a while since I've worked this", he said.

"Welcome back to our team", Conner said with a slight smirk.

Tommy rolled his eyes as he led the Dino Rangers down to the medical ward. Once they got there Ethan and Trent were already there waiting.

"Alright guys", Tommy said as he lifted his morpher, "Ready."

"DINO THUNDER, POWER UP, WHITE RANGER DINO POWER!", they all said at once, and in a flash of light the five Dino Rangers stood in the middle of the room.

* * *

**A/N: Chapter five had rolled out. We're only looking at a few more before starting the second arc. Please read and review.**


	6. Old Friends

**Power Rangers: Frozen Star**

**In the Face of Defeat**

**Chapter 6**

**Old Friends**

**

* * *

**

Once they were morphed, they walked into the area where Wes was laying. As they arrived, Kat walked up with the two pieces of the Zeo crystal that were currently in their possession. Just as she was about to ask Tommy what to do next, the pieces of the Zeo crystal started glowing brightly and flew out of her hands, coming to a stop directly over Wes. "What the hell?" she exclaimed

After a brief moment of nothing happening, waves of energy started coming off of the morphed Dino Rangers and started converging directly on the Zeo Crystals. A few seconds later, the Zeo crystals started arcing with lightning in every color of the ranger spectrum, before a bright red beam shot out and hit Wes dead center in the chest. Moments later, there was an extremely bright flash. After clearing their eyes, everyone in the room noticed that the Zeo crystals were now laying on the chest of a fully morphed Wes. More importantly, they noticed that Wes appeared to be un-injured, and for the first time since he was impaled on the sword, resting peacefully.

"What was all that about?" Tommy asked.

"No idea" Kat replied as she pulled out a medical scanner, "According to this the worst of his wounds have healed to a degree, but there is still a great deal of damage that will heal over time, although, I'm certain that he will live now. The real question is, why is he morphed?"

"Last time one of the Dino gems overloaded, I was stuck in morph for a week," Tommy replied "this may be something similar. It may be his inherent ranger powers interacting with so much energy from the Morphing Grid. In truth, we will have to wait until he wakes up to see if he can un-morph on his own."

"Well, as far as I can tell, he should be out of danger, but I would like to get him de-morphed so I can take a look at what remains of his wounds. Beyond that, his energy levels are very low, so he will most likely sleep for the next several days," Kat said.

"I can deactivate his morpher," Jen replied as she reached over the sleeping form of Wes, hitting a series of buttons on his morpher, causing it to power down. "Will he really be ok?"

"He should be fine once the remaining wounds heal, although there is likely to be some residual pain that will last him the rest of his life. The power surge appears to have prevented most of the more serious consequences I was worried about, but he will still need an extended rehabilitation period." Kat replied.

"_Dr. O_", Jeremy's voice came over the intercom.

Tommy sighed as he went over to the wall, "What is it Jeremy?"

"_Sensors have picked up an energy signature heading towards us_", came Jeremy's reply.

"Prepare the defenses", Tommy said.

"_But Dr. O, it's a ranger signature._"

Tommy's blood ran cold at that statement. There was only one ranger that was unaccounted for when Venjix attacked and everyone had just assumed the worst. "Get the Ninja Rangers and take them out to investigate, NOW!"

* * *

Richard Evans sat on a log watching his mother taking a walk with Merrick. He knew that they were doing nothing wrong, but he always got a little upset when he saw his mother with men, after all it had only been a year since they lost his father. It had taken them months to come to grips from that because he was a Power Ranger and rangers weren't supposed to be able to die. Katie and Collin Meyers jumped up onto the log on either side of him and looked at what he was watching.

"It's nice to see her smiling again", Katie said.

"But I feel like she's replacing Dad", Richard replied.

"You know that's not true", Elizabeth said as she came over to them.

Richard rolled his eyes as he responded, "Yes, I know that, but what I know and what I feel are two separate things."

"I hate to say it, but I have to side with Rick on this one", Collin said.

"How long do you expect her to wait? She loved your Dad, and we know that, but she shouldn't have to be alone just because he is dead. Besides, she needs a good friend just as much as we do." Elizabeth replied.

There was no reply, as everyone was thinking about everything that had happened, watching Merrick and Alyssa walk and talk.

Finally, Richard replied "I guess you're right, Elizabeth, she deserves to be happy. I just don't want her to go and replace Dad."

Elizabeth smiled a little, and replied "Of course I'm right silly, but if you're worried about her trying to replace him, why don't you tell her how you feel."

"I guess I could," Richard replied, "but I don't want to seem selfish. I guess if I don't talk to her, I have no right to complain about anything she does."

They heard the sound of a throat clearing behind them, and when they turned they saw a slightly annoyed Eric and Taylor standing there looking down at them.

"Mom Dad, what are you doing here?" Katie and Collin asked at the same time.

"We're here because these four children that we know are late for their training", Eric said.

"And the four of you are old enough to know that's it's rude to eavesdrop", Taylor added.

"But, we were…" The kids all tried to say before being cut off.

"Not where you were supposed to be", Eric said sternly, "Now move it."

"Yes sir", the children replied as they started walking back towards the settlement.

* * *

Billy was hard at work trying to get the invisaportal system in Root Core operational. He had been having several issues trying to get his technological machine to work with the magic that was keeping the barrier sealed. He made the final connections and turned the power switch on, but instead of activating; it gave him the shock of his life and sent him hurtling into the wall of the old tree. Hearing the commotion Nick rushed into the room to find Billy lying on the floor with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Are you ok?" Nick asked as he helped Billy up off the floor.

"Affirmative", Billy replied as he lightly touched his hair that was now sticking out in every direction, "Thought I would try a new hair style."

Nick chuckled a bit before responding, "I'm sure there are better ways to achieve the mad scientist look."

"I cannot fathom what went awry", Billy said as he tucked his hair back into its ponytail.

Maybe instead of configuring the machine to work with our magic, we should configure our magic to work with the machine", Nick Replied thoughtfully.

"That is a very astute observation", Billy replied.

"I'll go get my Mom", Nick answered before he left the tree.

He found his mother Udonna playing with Anna in the woods. Anna smiled brightly and ran up to Nick throwing her arms around him.

"Hi Daddy", she said affectionately.

"Hey Baby Doll", he said as he gave her a hug back, "I need to borrow Grandma for a little while, so I need you to go see Mommy and Aunt Vida at the playground."

"Maybe they will let Oscar and I go on a nature walk", Anna said as she ran off to find her mother, aunt, and cousin.

Udonna blew a kiss to her granddaughter before turning to her son, "Bowen, what seems to be the trouble?"

"Billy is having trouble getting the system online. It has issues working with our magic, so I was wondering if we could make our magic work with it."

Udonna furrowed her brow slightly as she considered it, "It's not impossible", she said, "Come, let us go see his machine."

* * *

Jeremy, Shane, Tori, Dustin, Blake, Hunter, and Cam arrived in the old central square of Angel Grove. Even through the visors of their helmets they had to squint momentarily as the adjusted to the sun. Jeremy pulled out a portable tracking unit and started heading toward the direction of the power signature.

"Alright guys", Shane said, "Keep an eye out for Venjix forces."

"Look at this place", Tori said as she picked up a tattered doll from the ground.

"You should have seen Reefside", Jeremy responded, "They bombed it straight off the map."

"How many people lost their lives here?" Dustin asked.

"A lot", Jeremy said, "Across every town from Reefside to here, we only managed to save a few hundred out of at least a couple hundred thousand."

"This has to be the greatest ranger failure of all time", Tori said as she put the doll down, "We lost so many people."

"We did the best we could", Shane said as he surveyed the ruined town, "We were outnumbered ten thousand to one."

"But we should have done more", Cam said.

"Enough", Jeremy said with a hint of agitation in his voice, "I realize that you have all been rangers for a long time and that I have never really served on an active team, but in the last decade that I have been part of this world I've never seen rangers so overwhelmed by a force such as this. There is really no point in beating yourselves up over something you could not control."

"He's right", Blake spoke up, "We should focus on the mission at hand.

The others nodded as they all walked down the ruined streets of the city. After about twenty minutes they stopped to rest briefly. Tori opened the front of her helmet so she could take a drink of water as Cam and Jeremy were going over the readings from the tracker. They saw the blip of the ranger signal, but weren't sure whether or not to believe what they were seeing.

"It can't be this easy", Cam said.

"I don't get it either", Jeremy replied, "There's not even a grinder registering."

"Alright guys", Cam said, "I think that we may be walking into some kind of trap, so keep your eyes open."

Tori closed her helmet as they returned to their trek across the Angel Grove wasteland. About an hour later they arrived at the ruins of the old youth center.

"No doubt about it", Jeremy said, "The signal is coming from in there."

They entered the ruined building and began climbing through the rubble of the collapsed roof. Once they got into the main area that saw a middle aged man wearing a black suit sitting at what was left of the bar trying to eat something that vaguely looked like dried meat. Next to him on the bar was a black helmet that had been stained with dirt.

"Zach", Jeremy said slightly unsure of himself.

The man got up off the stool, "Tommy?" he asked at the person clad in the Green Ranger armor.

Jeremy removed his helmet and Zach dropped into a fighting stance at the sight of an unknown person wearing his friend's uniform.

"My name is Jeremy; we met once or twice about eleven years ago after Dr. O… I mean Tommy gave me his green powers", Jeremy said trying to placate the clearly upset Black Ranger.

"I thought I was the only one left", Zach said as his stance softened, "I haven't seen anyone since we scattered after the Hartford stronghold was attacked."

"And the Overdrive rangers?" Jeremy asked with a sense of dread coming over him.

"No word in weeks", Zach said, "We had picked up a faint message from Tommy several months ago, but didn't have the power reserves to respond. After we were attacked, we scattered and I have not seen or heard from anyone since."

"Man", Tori said, "That's rough."

"What about some of the other teams?" Zach asked

"Most of Zeo and Astro are off planet as well as the Galaxy Rangers. According to what we know the Lightspeed rangers were all killed when Venjix found their base not long after the initial attacks, Eric and Wes from Time Force teamed up with the Wild Force rangers when their red was killed. The Wind and Thunder s, Dino and original team are at the Command Center, Wild Force is at the Animarium, and the Mystic Rangers are sealed in a magic forest", Jeremy said solemnly.

"Wow", Zach said just as his suit began to arc with energy and he collapsed to the ground.

The rangers rushed to him as Cam looked at his morpher.

"His powers are destabilizing", Cam said, "Probably from being in morph for so long."

"Let's get out of here", Jeremy said as he helped Cam pick Zach up off the floor.

Tori grabbed his helmet and they made their way out into the street. Once they had enough clearance from the building Jeremy entered a command into his communicator and an invisaportal opened in front of them. Tori put Zach's helmet back on him and they all held him stable as they entered to return to their base.

* * *

**A/N: Here is chapter six. Please read and review.**


	7. Fallout

**In The Face Of Defeat**

**Chapter 7**

**Fallout**

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* * *

**

Anton, Elsa, and Tommy were in the control room monitoring the rangers when the recall sequence was activated by Jeremy. Anton monitored the portal and grabbed Tommy as an unknown energy source entered the portal behind the rangers.

"What the hell is that?" Tommy asked.

"It has a Venjix signature", Anton replied.

"Divert the portal!" Tommy exclaimed, "We can't let it get inside."

Anton's fingers flew masterfully over the controls as it opened spitting the rangers out onto the floor. The machinery groaned as Anton attempted to seal the portal and redirect it before whatever was in it made it through. After another moment the portal closed, but Anton continued to grimace at his console.

"Did you do it?" Elsa asked.

"Yes, and no", Anton replied, "I kept it out of the control room but it still made it into the compound."

"Where?" Shane asked as he opened the front of his helmet.

Anton looked over his scans and turned to look up at Shane, "Lower level seven, section thirty-nine."

"Shane, take the Ninja Rangers and go. Jeremy is going to help me get Zack down to the infirmary", Tommy said as he was picking up his old friend. Jeremy came up and helped with Zack's other side as the Ninja Rangers started heading down into the tunnels.

* * *

Kat and Kim came into the main infirmary room as Tommy and Jeremy laid Zack down on the table. Kat grabbed her stethoscope and walked up to the table.

"Zack", she said shaking him slightly, "Zack can you hear me?"

Zack groaned and opened his eyes, "Hey", he said weakly.

"Hey stranger", Kim said as she walked up to the bed as well.

"Hey Shorty", he mumbled out, "Nice outfit."

Kim looked down at her hospital gown and blushed slightly, "I'm your fellow patient."

"What did you do, fall down an elevator shaft?" he asked, "I feel like I did."

"I wish", she said with a smile, "I had a baby."

"That's nice", he said as he drifted back into unconsciousness.

"Is he ok?" Kim asked as she rubbed his hand.

"He'll be fine", Kat said, "He's severely dehydrated and malnourished, but we'll get him back up and going in a few days."

"Let me know when he comes to", Tommy ordered, "I want to know why he was missing for so damned long."

* * *

The Ninja Rangers entered the section of tunnel that housed the attackbot. Luckily for them it was in an area that was normally uninhabited, and also knew that this was a dead end so the monster had nowhere to go.

"Let me out of here!" they heard an angry yet metallic voice scream at them.

"What the hell are you?" Tori spouted off as the rangers entered their fighting stances.

"_Shane this is Tommy, what do you see_", Shane heard through his communicator.

"It's a full blown attackbot", Shane responded.

"Stealthbot", the monster corrected, Generation six."

"_What was that?_" Tommy asked through the communicator.

"The monster", Shane responded, "But it's about to be scrap."

"We shall see", the stealthbot responded.

"I've had enough of this freak", Hunter said as he pulled out his blaster, "Let's take him down."

After what seemed like a year of fighting, the rangers were getting tired, and had made absolutely no headway in defeating the monster. They all charged in at once as the monster let out energy blasts knocking them back down.

"What's the matter rangers?" The monster asked, "Getting too old and feeble to do your jobs?"

"Who are you calling old buckethead", Tori practically shrieked at the monster.

Tori and Shane both went to attack but were grabbed in mid-air by the helmets by the attackbot, "Old, feeble and slow", it said just before it smashed their heads together hard enough to shatter the visor in both helmets. Tori lost consciousness from the blow and Shane was knocked for a loop. The monster let out a yell and tossed them both at the other four rangers. Blake dropped to the ground and pulled his wife's head into his lap.

"I'll kill you for this you bastard creation!" he shouted.

With that, Hunter called Tommy on his communicator and said "Tommy, this guy is tough, can you use the sensors to try and find any weaknesses?"

"_I can try_", Tommy replied, "_But I can't make any promises. The Stealthbot appears to be very heavily shielded against our scans. That, combined with his ability to become invisible, is probably why we didn't pick him up on sensors when he was still in Angel Grove_."

"There's no time for that", Shane said as he forced his way up from the ground, "We have to end this now."

"What are we going to do", Cam asked.

"Fall back a little, we need more space", Shane said sternly.

Tori started to come around as they ran back about fifteen feet so she managed to carry herself most of the way. Once they were where that planned to make their stand Shane pulled out his blaster, dove forward, and fired several shots into the ceiling of the tunnel causing it to collapse.

"What the hell are you doing!" Tori yelled as a flood of rock came pouring down separating Shane from the other rangers.

"What must be done", she heard him yell as the cave in stopped.

"That was stupid", the monster said, "You have no chance to beat me now."

"I'll be the judge of that", Shane said, "Battleized mode engage. Full power."

Tommy looked at his console and gasped when he saw Shane's energy level drastically increasing.

"What the hell does he think he's doing?" he yelled, "Anton, get him out of there."

"I can't", Anton replied, "The interior teleporters can't get a lock through that amount of energy."

Shane looked at the monster as his armor started to whine from overload, and smiles through his broken helmet, "Your ass is mine now."

* * *

The other rangers were trying to dig their way through the rubble when they heard a faint whine coming through the rocks. Cam's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen, "Get out of here it's going to exp…" he tried to yell, but was interrupted by a deafening explosion and they were all hurled down the corridor. The rangers picked themselves up and made their way back to the battle area. The monster was reduced to a pile of sparking scrap, but Shane was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened?" Blake asked in an unsure tone of voice.

Cam's voice began to crack as he responded, "He overloaded his battleizer."

Tori felt something under her boot and gasped as she looked down to see what it was. She bent down to pick it up, and let loose a few tears as she realized that it was Shane's, burnt and broken morpher.

"Oh no", Blake said as she stepped up beside Tori, "He didn't make it."

"_What's going on down there_", Tommy's voice came angrily over the communicators.

"The attackbot's been defeated", Hunter replied.

"But we lost Shane", Tori added.

Tommy pounded the console in anger before turning back to his communication, "I want all of you up her now, and I want to know exactly what happened!"

* * *

Across the land in a domed city a young woman sat at a massive computer terminal monitoring energy readings when she noticed a tremendous spike on one of her monitors. She went to work trying to pinpoint the source when she stopped cold in awe of the readings. "This isn't possible", she muttered. After a few moments of scanning she had triangulated the spike to a small area in the California desert. What was even more astounding was the fact that she picked up several more non-Venjix energy readings as well as an unorthodox communication frequency. Typing a few more commands; she was able to cut through the interference and get a signal to whatever it was causing those readings. She jumped in surprise as the face of a man appeared on her screen. He was in his late thirties or early forties, had shoulder length hair, and a goatee. He looked at her with a face of annoyance before sighing, "I'm Dr. Oliver, what can I do for you?"

"Dr. Oliver", the young woman replied, "I detected a massive energy spike in the Universal Bio-electric field that seemed to come from your location."

"I see", he said suspiciously, "And who are you?" he asked not willing to give up any information to someone whom he wasn't sure could be trusted.

The young woman who didn't look old enough to be out of high school looked at him through the screen, "I'm Dr. K; I mentor the RPM Ranger Series Operators."

"So you're in Corinth?" he asked.`

"That's right", she replied, "How were you able to interact with the Bio-field in order to create a shock that large to it?"

Tommy stiffened at her words and restrained himself from yelling at this girl. "We had an attackbot infiltrate our base. One of my rangers sacrificed himself in order to remove the threat."

"You have my condolences Dr. Oliver, but I find it unlikely that a ranger could generate levels of energy at that magnitude."

Tommy smirked a little at the thought that his teams still had some edge, "Maybe yours can't but some of mine are quite capable."

"You have rangers?" Dr. K asked clearly shocked.

"Several, and right now we have just lost one", Tommy replied coolly, "We also have to start repairs on the damage that thing caused."

"Dr. Oliver, how did you create ranger powers?"

"I didn't", he replied, "We've all been rangers for years. Have you lived underground your entire life?"

"You could say that", Dr. K replied, "Anyway, first thing is we have to get you all out of there."

"It's not possible, he said, "There are several hundred of us, too many to move without attracting attention."

"I see", she replied, "You can't stay there, but according to my scans there is a mountain nearby. You could construct a new base with better technology. I will send you diagrams for equipment so you can start, if I found you, then so will Venjix."

The computer started beeping as information began feeding into the system. Tommy looked over her scans and noticed something odd about them. "Thank you for your help. We'll be in contact."

"Understood", Dr. K said as the screen blinked out.

"That crazy ass old man came through for us again", Tommy said as he activated the comm. system, "_This is Tommy Oliver. I need all Power Rangers and ranger support teams to main operations immediately._"

* * *

Ten minutes later every able ranger as well as Haley, Elsa, and Anton were standing in the Operations area as Tommy pulled up a diagram on a computer screen.

"Let me start by saying that we lost a good ranger today", Tommy said as the others lowered their heads solemnly, "Bu t we cannot let his death be in vein. Venjix most likely detected an energy spike emanating from the Morphing Grid and will soon have our location found. We need to leave this place."

"Where would we go?" Ethan asked, "We don't have the resources to move that many people."

"I have to agree", Anton added, "There's no way to get this many people out safely."

"Plus", Kira added, "Where would we go? The Animarium can't support seven hundred more people, and I doubt that the Mystic Forest is a viable option either."

"Agreed", Tommy said, "But we do have an alternative."

Everyone stood up straight as Tommy directed their attention to the scan of the mountain.

"Well I'll be damned", Jason said.

"I don't believe it", Kat added.

"How come we've never seen this before?" Kim asked.

"Because we were never told about it", Tommy answered, "I'll bet all the information is stored securely in the computer."

At that moment an invisaportal opened in the middle of the room and Billy stepped out. Hayley ran over to her husband and pulled him into a strong embrace. "Welcome back", Hayley said as she kissed him.

Billy looked around and noticed the somber attitude in the room. "What events was I not here to observe or participate in?"

Tommy spent the next several minutes bringing Billy up to date on the events and showing him the scans of their future home.

"I don't get it", Billy said, "I've personally been through the computer systems dozens of times and I've never seen this place."

"None of us have", Tommy said, "But we need you to dig it up."

Half an hour later Billy called Tommy over to the console he was working at. Tommy looked down at an image of the facility, "Good work", he said to his friend.

"It was hidden in pieces", Billy said, "I had to really look at the code to find it, but once the first piece came up the rest fell into place."

"I'm impressed", Kim said.

"Ok Billy, I need a list of everything that needs to be done in order to make this a viable home", Tommy said before looking to the others, "One other thing, I want you all to keep this a secret. Nobody finds out until we're ready to move in."

"I think it's time to go", Kim said, "I'm sure the kids would love dinner, and the Ninja Rangers need some time to come to grips."

* * *

**A/N: Here is chapter 7. We hope you enjoy it, and as always please read and review.**


	8. Out With The Old

**In The Face Of Defeat**

**Chapter 8**

**Out with the old**

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* * *

**

11 Months later

Tommy walked into the control room of the Command Center, looking exhausted. It had been almost a year of non-stop work and he was tired, almost a year since contact was made with Corinth, almost a year since Shane had sacrificed himself to save them all. Now, things were changing. It was the end of an era. Shortly he would be making the announcement to the residents of the caves that construction of a new Operations Center had been completed using technology from Corinth. Shortly he would be destroying a part of Power Rangers history. True, they were backing up all the databases, and moving all the artifacts, but he was about to order the total destruction of the Command Center and the Power Chamber where he and the other rangers had first received their powers.

Sighing deeply, he took a look around, knowing that it would be his last, and walked over to the Communications console. Tommy paused for just a moment, thinking about how he had almost destroyed the command center years ago as the evil green ranger, and now, here he was, nearly a quarter century later, doing it not for evil, but for the greater good. He looked longingly at Zordon's empty energy tube, "So this is really it", he muttered to himself as he hit the 'talk' button. "Ladies and gentleman, this is Dr. Thomas Oliver. If I may have your attention for a moment, I have a very important announcement to make. Moments ago, we completed construction on a new Operations Center that will be replacing the existing Command Center. Over the next few days we will be evacuating everyone to the new residence quarters that have been built around the Operations Center. We have been in touch with Corinth, and they have shared some of their technology with us in an effort to ensure that we do not have a repeat of the tragedy that occurred nearly a year ago. In a few minutes, we will be activating the Invisiportals at the designated evacuation points, so please begin to gather your belongings and moving over to the new Residence halls. Take your time please, and be sure not to leave anything behind. Once the evacuation is complete we will be activating the self destruct system to ensure that Venjix cannot gain access to our technology. There will be no coming back. Thank you, and have a safe journey. "

"_It was a long speech_", Tommy thought, but saying goodbye to the command center was hard, and he felt it deserved no less for the protection it had thus far afforded them. The only thing that had made the situation bearable was that Zordon himself had hidden the facility that became their new base of operations. True they had greatly expanded it, but Zordon built the main facility. For what purpose, they still had yet to determine, but the fact that he had built it was a miracle all the same. At that moment, Anton walked in, and Tommy snapped out of his daze.

"Tommy, I know this has been a long year for you, and you're not looking forward to this, but it is for the greater good. Now, long range sensors have detected what appear to be several squads of grinders and multiple generation 7 attack bots headed directly for our location. The good news is that they are still roughly two days away , so we should be able to complete the evacuation before they breach our defences." Anton said.

Tommy nodded, as Anton activated the invisiportal network. "Ok, Anton. Let's get this over with. Activate the invisiportal network, and transfer the controls to the Operations center. I am going to go and try to get a few hours sleep. I'll relieve you in a few hours so that you can get some rest as well. I know you are just as tired as I am." He said.

* * *

Five hours later, Tommy awoke in his quarters beneath the old command center. He looked around and saw his wife and two oldest children grabbing the boxes containing the last of their belongings. He sighed, and thought to himself "I'm going to miss this place... it's been hell over the past few years, but this place has still been good to all of us. I almost wish it didn't have to end this way." He stood there, watching as his wife took the last box, the last of their life, and they left their quarters here for the last time. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Tommy then walked up to the command center to relieve Anton, so that he and Elsa could finish packing, and get some rest before all hell broke loose.

As he walked into the command center, Tommy noticed that Anton looked slightly worried. Tommy walked up behind him, and placed his hand on Anton's shoulder and said "Anton, old friend, what seems to be bothering you?"

Anton jumped slightly, having been surprised by Tommy's arrival, before replying "I'm not sure. About 10 minutes ago I detected a large energy surge near the location of the Venjix forces. Since then I haven't been able to detect them, and the perimeter shields are showing a fairly significant energy drain. I estimate that we have roughly an hour before they fail completely. On the bright side, the evacuation is almost complete. It seems that our guests took your message to heart, and immediately began packing their things in preparation for the move. In fact, there are only a few families left. I am going to go help Elsa move our belongings, if you need anything, call me and I'll be here." At that, Anton turned and left the command center.

Tommy rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Nothing is ever as easy as it should be" he said to no one in particular. "Oh well, let the games begin" He sighed to himself as he was hitting the intercom button on the console in front of him. "This is Doctor Oliver. Our previous estimate of the time we had to complete evacuation was, unfortunately, far too optimistic. At this time we are fairly certain that Venjix forces are trying to breach the perimeter shield. We estimate less than an hour before the shield fails. If anyone needs additional assistance, some of the rangers will be returning to assist you. They will be stationed near the evacuation portals. Please hurry, but don't forget anything that you don't want to lose. Thank you." He said. With that, he hit the talk button on his wrist communicator. "Jason", he said, "We have a small problem. We are pretty sure that there are Venjix forces trying to breach our perimeter shields, and there are a few people still trying to evacuate. Can you gather some of the rangers together and help them expedite their departure. Oh, and have Billy use those new sensors of his to see if he can figure out exactly what we are looking at."

"Sure Tommy, we will be right there. Billy heard your message and he is already checking, I'll have him call you in a minute, I am going to go gather the rangers." Jason said.

"Tommy, this is Billy, the new sensors here are showing that a fairly sizeable attack force has gathered just outside of the shield. There appears to be a stealthbot with them, which is probably why your sensors aren't picking them up. Wait… Hold on a second… Tommy, the attack bots appear to be assembling a weapon. According to the Corinth database, this weapon has enough power to get through the command center shields easily. I estimate maybe thirty minutes before they are able to assemble and fire it."

Tommy sighed, "When it rains it pours", he said, "Thanks Billy, keep me posted. Tommy Out!"

Anton chose that moment to walk into the command center. "Elsa just left with the last of our things. How bad is it Tommy?"

"It's bad, we have half an hour at the most before our shields fall. To make matters worse, Billy was able to use the new sensors to scan the area, you were right. The entirety of the Venjix attack force that was detected heading toward us is currently parked outside the shield and the attack bots appear to be assembling a weapon capable of bringing down our shields."

With that, Tommy armed the self destruct, and set the timer for 15 minutes. "Ok Anton, get out of here. The auto Destruct is set for 15 minutes. I'm going to go help the guys with the evacuation."

"Ok Tommy, good luck! I will close down the inactive invisiportals so there is no chance of an attackbot sneaking through. Please hurry." Anton said. With that, they both left the command center for the last time. Anton headed through the nearest invisiportal and Tommy ran towards the nearest evacuation point.

Tommy found Jason ushering a line of people through one of the invisiportals, "Jason, we've got 15 minutes before the self destruct goes off. How is the evacuation going?"

Jason looked at Tommy before replying "It'll be close."

After a few minutes of rushing people through, they heard an explosion above them. "I'll say this, they're nothing if not persistent and thorough", Jason said as he began rushing people faster.

"We're out of time", Tommy said, "Get these people out now!" He ran to a locker and pulled out a few blue orbs, "I'll by you some time."

"Tommy, wait. That's suicide", Jason yelled as Tommy ran off completely ignoring what he had to say.

Tommy turned a corner as thirty grinders spilled into the corridor. Without thinking he tossed off one of the orbs before diving back behind the wall. There was a bright flash and several of the grinders fell to the ground. The others made their way through their fallen comrades as Tommy tossed the other two EMP grenades down at them. He was able to take a brief deep breath before another squadron of grinders made their way towards him.

"Shit", Tommy muttered as the thirty second reminder went off on his communicator. He ran back down the corridor as Jason was helping the last family through the portal. "Go, go, go", Tommy yelled as he ran full speed down the corridor. Just as Tommy made it to the portal, he felt an energy blast hit him in the back causing him to collapse to the ground. Jason ran to his fallen friend just as a group of grinders came up to him. Jason immediately delivered a tornado kick causing the lead grinders to fall. He grabbed Tommy and dove through the portal just as the timer hit zero.

* * *

Three days later, Tommy awoke in what was, at first, unfamiliar surroundings. As he was getting his bearings, he realized that he was in the medical bay of the Operations Center. Sitting up, he winced in pain. "Careful Tommy, you took an energy blast to your back. You've been unconscious for three days," Kat said from behind him. Tommy immediately made an attempt to get out of bed despite the pain. He looked around with an alarmed look on his face. "Relax! That's an order," Kat said, "Jason dragged you through the portal just as the auto destruct went off. Before you ask, he is just fine, and all of the Venjix forces in the area were destroyed when the power source in the command center went critical. You need to rest now. You will be fine, but the burn on your back will take a few more days to heal enough for me to let you out of here. Kim should be by shortly, I'll let her know that you're awake so that she can bring the children with her." With that, she turned and walked into her office to call Kim.

* * *

**A/N: I know this is a slightly shorter chapter than normal, but we are wrapping up In the Face of Defeat. There is only one chapter left before we begin the next part of the Frozen Star series. Stay tuned for Power Rangers Frozen Star: Race to Destiny, and thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as we enjoyed writing it! As always, please review.**

**Thanks, **

**NightWatcher666 & Shadowhunter81  
**


	9. The Time Has Come

**In The Face Of Defeat**

**Chapter 9**

**The Time Has Come**

**

* * *

**

One month later...

Tommy had just woken up. Life in the Operations center was a breeze compared to life in the caves beneath the command center. They had all the comforts of home, including running water, and air conditioning. They had been lucky, when the original structure for the Operations Center, or Ops as it was now being called was built; Zordon had though to install a ventilation system that vented air from a cavern deep underground that had a freshwater river running through it. This river, the rangers later discovered, was fed by a spring that was tied to an extremely large aquifer deep below the surface. As a result things had very quickly gotten back to normal after the hectic evacuation day they had survived not that long ago. People, it seems, find it much easier to adjust to change when they are comfortable. While it was clear that this place was designed to last through the long haul, Tommy still missed his home in Reefside and planned to rebuild it as soon as it was safe to head back into the world.

The rangers no longer had to make dangerous supply runs into the ruined cities since they had found a storehouse with seeds in it that they were able to use to start a hydroponic garden, so as a result they were able to feed everyone without having to worry about rationing what little they had left in the way of supplies. They even had an abundant supply of fish, as it seems that Zordon had also placed a fish hatchery under stasis sometime prior to his apparent destruction. They were all amazed at the level of planning that had gone into the new facility. It seemed like someone had anticipated the near destruction of the world, and had provided them with a safe haven.

Tommy walked into Ops, having slept peacefully, and said "Good morning everyone, how is everything going today?"

Billy looked up from the science station and said "We are not sure; we registered a massive energy surge near Corinth, and have been unable to make contact with them since. It appears that Venjix himself attacked the city from the readings. It also seems that the control tower in Corinth has taken a heavy hit and is no longer operational. It also appears that Dr. K had other motives for giving us a copy of their database and allowing us to use their technology as critical systems control immediately transferred here when the command center in Corinth was destroyed. But that's not what I find most interesting. There is a prerecorded message that appears to be from Zordon. I'm not sure why we didn't see it sooner, it's possible that it had been programmed to unlock under only certain circumstances."

Before Billy could continue, Tommy interrupted him and said "Thank you Billy, can you please call the others before you play the message I'm sure that they would want to be here for this."

About ten minutes later Kim, Jason, Zack, Justin and Kat stepped into the main operations.

"Alright man, we're here. Now what did you want us to see?" Zack asked.

"Billy found something in the computer system, and it appears to be from Zordon", Tommy said, "I figured that you would want to be here for it. Go ahead Billy."

Billy just nodded as he put the message on the holographic display that replaced the ancient viewing globe. As the message started, to play Zordon's head appeared.

"_Rangers, if you are seeing this, then my worst fears have come to pass, and I am no longer with you. You must have survived a great ordeal and the old command center has been destroyed. Fear not, however as I have high expectations that you will come through this. Over the years that I have been with you, I have come to think of you all as my children and I could not be more proud of all of you. Tommy with your utter selflessness, you put others before yourself even if it means sacrificing your desires. Kimberly, you have been told many times that you were the heart of the team, and this is because of your capacity to love even when it is hard to do so. Jason with strong mind and body will fight with everything you have to protect those you care about and those you do not know. Trini, many who know you rely on your nurturing spirit and strong words and actions. Billy with your scientific mind, you question everything in order to find the truth, but never need to question what is right in your heart. Zack, your fun loving spirit helps keep people motivated even the direst of circumstances. Rocky, you have never let your teammates down when they have needed you, and I'm sure that you never will. Adam, you take the world as it comes and never let it keep you down for too long. Aisha, you also have a wonderful spirit, always caring, but defensive when need be. Tanya, you have a heart of gold and everyone knows that they can come to you with a problem, no matter what it is. Katherine, as much as you have the capacity for love, you also keep a clear head in a tough situation. Justin, You have so much growing to do, but I already see great things in your future. My ranger, my children, I regret no longer being with you, but remember that you are all special. As a mentor I taught you how to be good heroes, but I feel as a father figure that I have taught you so much more than that. I have taught you how to be good people. You and anyone who can call themselves a ranger are family. I would love nothing more than to watch you grow and mature into your lives, but as you go through this without me remember that I love you all."_

Kat and Kim both put their heads on their husbands shoulders as they started to cry. Everyone else couldn't help but letting a few tears escape either as the image of their beloved mentor faded from the monitor.

"Billy", Tommy said, "I want you to save this, and as soon as possible get it to the others."

"You got it", Billy said as Hayley gave him a hug.

"It feels like he died all over again", Kim said through the tears, "I never thought that I would hear his voice again."

Everyone else nodded solemnly in agreement.

The console started beeping and Billy walked over to see what it was, "Tommy, we are receiving a signal from Corinth on the ranger frequency that we have designated for them."

"Activate the comm." Tommy said.

The image of Dr. K was staring back at them, and she said "Doctor Oliver, I am glad to see that the Operations Center appears to be everything we both hoped it would be, and more. I wanted to apologize for not telling you of the backup link that I built into the systems I helped you design. If they have caused you any issues, I am sorry. I..."

Tommy interrupted Dr. K and said "Doctor K. It is good to hear from you. No harm was caused by the activation of your backup systems; however, I wish you had given us some choice in the matter. Now, what can you tell me about the current state of your conflict with Venjix?"

Dr. K looked surprised, but hesitated only a moment before saying "Venjix has been destroyed."

Tommy smiled slightly and replied "Shortly after the destruction of the control tower in Corinth, we detected a large energy surge in your general vicinity. While we were analyzing the readings we detected a Venjix energy signature, but it was many times stronger than normal. We weren't sure whether or not to assume the worst."

"Fascinating", Doctor K Replied, "I would most definitely appreciate any additional information that you can provide me since most of our main systems are down, but that is not the reason for my call; the leaders here in Corinth have heard of all you have done, not only for the rangers, but for humanity in general, and have requested that you and your teams join us for the dedication of a memorial to the fallen in this war."

"We would be honored to attend. When is this memorial being dedicated?" Tommy replied.

"The dedication will be in one month's time. Until then, we would appreciate anyone you can spare to help with the cleanup. The most recent Venjix attack caused far more damage than we are used to, as you can imagine. Also, if it isn't too much trouble, would you mind if we left the city's defenses in your control? I am afraid that there may still be a few rogue attack bots on the loose and we don't want to take any chances." Doctor K replied.

"Not a problem, Doctor K. We will be glad to send help for you in addition, we are more than glad to help run the defenses in Corinth until you are able to take control again, it's the least we can do after all the help you gave us with the defenses here. We can have some workers there first thing in the morning, if you wouldn't mind sending us the exact coordinates to a safe spot in the city where we can transport them." Tommy replied.

"Very well Doctor Oliver, and thank you. I have sent you the coordinates, but I'm curious... You are on the other side of the country, how do you expect to get help here within a day?" Doctor K replied.

Tommy just smiled and said "Be at the coordinates you provided us at 9am your time tomorrow and I will tell you in person."

Doctor K. looked somewhat surprised, but nodded and said "Very well, Doctor Oliver. I look forward to your explanation and finally meeting you in person."

"I will see you then. Oh, and please call me Tommy. Doctor Oliver is far too formal. Now if you will excuse me, I have a cleanup crew to organize." Tommy said, as the communication was ended. Tommy turned to Billy and said "Can you please get those coordinates to Anton so that he can add them to the invisiportal network. I would hate to get all the way to Corinth with no way home."

The next day, Tommy, Jason, Anton, Conner, Trent, Dustin, Blake, Hunter, Justin, Zack, Wes, and Eric all stepped through the invisiportal to Corinth where they were greeted by a now speechless Doctor K.

"How did you achieve nearly instantaneous molecular transport that is not possible?" She asked.

Tommy simply replied, "It's called an invisiportal. We used to use a different method of transportation, but this has proved far more efficient. My friend Anton will be happy to explain the details of both systems to you, if you'd like." Tommy then proceeded to introduce everyone present, and they set off to help restore Corinth to its once former glory.

* * *

(Venjix War Memorial Dedication)

Tommy sat in his chair on the stage looking down at his children. Anton, Elsa, and Hayley had their hands full with watching so many but others in the crowd were willing to help look after the children of the Power Rangers.

Colonel Truman took his position at the podium as the ceremony began.

"People of Corinth and survivors around the world, I stand before you today as we celebrate the defeat of Venjix and its forces. However, many were lost over the last several years and we must never forget them. That is why we have erected this memorial in Honor of those fallen, and we must never forget the sacrifices of the Power Rangers. Not just the team that was here in Corinth, but all who gave up everything to help save us. As you may or may not know, several thousand people were saved by these people, and they all deserve our everlasting gratitude for what they have done. I now turn the dedication over to Dr. Thomas Oliver, the unanimously appointed leader of the Rangers."

Tommy stood up and shook the Colonel's hand before approaching the podium, "Well let me just start off with the introductions. I am Dr. Oliver and this is my wife Kimberly, Jason Scott and his wife Katherine, William Crantson, Zachary Taylor, Justin Stewart, Wes Collins and his wife Jennifer, Eric Meyers and his wife Taylor, Alyssa Evans, Daniel Delgado, Maxwell Cooper, Merrick Baliton, Cameron Watanabe, Justin Brooks, Hunter and Blake Bradley, as well as Blake's wife Tori, Conner Mcknight and his wife Kira, Ethan James, Trent Mercer, Jeremy Hanson, Nick and Madison Russell, Charlie and Vida Thorn, Xander Bly, Leanbow, Udonna, and Daggeron. I introduce them as Rangers, but we are no longer different teams, we are Rangers together, of course we cannot forget those that gave their lives in this war; Cole Evans, and Shane Clarke. The Lightspeed Rangers gave their lives bravely, as did several members of the Overdrive and Jungle teams. The Power Rangers stand for good, decency, and above all to protect those that need it. One thing I heard a lot over the last two years was that many rangers felt that they had failed when Venjix attacked, but I say different. If we had then those several thousand people the endured so much would not be alive today, and neither would we. While it is true that the world has fallen on hard time we can fix the damage and rebuild our lives, and with the dedication of this memorial I say to you something my old mentor quite often said to us." Tommy looked at the massive crowd, his friends, and children, "Let the power protect you, always."

Almost as soon as he finished the curtain fell from behind him revealing a beautiful marble fountain. In the middle of it was a lightning bold and a flame burning brightly on top of it.

Colonel Truman stood back up, "In remembrance of those made the ultimate sacrifice during this war, we honor them with this everlasting flame. As long as there are people on this earth, this flame will never burn out and we will never forget."

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as the rangers walked down from the stage and each placed a red rose on the base of the fountain. After a moment of silence they rejoined their families and prepared for the festivities that would ensue that evening.

"That was really good Dad", Crystal said.

"Thanks sweetheart", Tommy replied.

Tommy looked up to see the RPM Rangers heading towards them.

"Dr. Oliver", Scott said as he extended a hand, "I just want to tell you how much of an honor it is to call myself a ranger and follow in your footsteps."

Tommy took Scotts hand and gave it a firm shake, "Thanks, that means a lot."

"We still have a lot of world to rebuild", Summer added.

"We'll rebuild tomorrow", Tommy said, "Tonight we celebrate."

"Now if I could just get someone out on the dance for", Summer said looking at her boyfriend Dillon.

"Don't worry", Tenaya added, "You'll work your charms", she then grabbed Scott and pulled him away, "We have to go get ready.

As they left Tommy wrapped his arms around his wife who was carrying their one year old son, "I think I'm going to miss the secret identities", he said to her.

"And why is that handsome?"

"I'm no longer Dr. Tommy Oliver, who just happens to be a Power Panger when needed. Now I'm Dr. Oliver who the whole world will look at as a Power Ranger."

"Well I'm in the same boat as you are, so we'll deal with it together", Kim said, "For now let's go have a good time; we're way over due."

* * *

(Six months later)

Crystal and David Oliver, along with Jenny Scott were finishing up their first shift in the Operations center when the communication system started beeping.

"It's funny", Crystal said, "We bugged our parent for the last two years to let us help out more, and now that they are; this is the most exciting thing to happen."

"Very funny Cris", Jenny said as she hit the tracking switch, "That's odd. Cris, Dave come check this out."

"That's not Corinth", Dave said as he hit a button on his new communicator, "Dad, you may want to get up here."

"_On my way"_, came their fathers reply from the wrist device.

A few moments later Tommy and Billy stepped into the control room, "What is it?" Tommy asked the thirteen year old children.

"We're getting a strange communication signal Uncle Tommy", Jenny said.

"And it's not from Corinth" David and Crystal said together.

Billy looked at the tracking system and looked at Tommy in surprise, "It's from Inquiris", he said.

"Put it up", Tommy said.

"Dimetria", Tommy muttered as a holographic representation of a woman appeared.

"_Greeting rangers, I tried to contact you some time ago but my timing was off. I realized soon after I sent my last message that your world was in grave peril. Congratulations on saving your world once again, but at the moment I'm afraid there is a larger problem than rebuilding your decimated planet. A terrible man with his eyes set on controlling your world is trying to find the location of the Frozen Star. Although he has not yet learned of its location, he is closing in and I am afraid that when he does it will spell disaster. You must hurry; find the Frozen Star before he does if there is to be any chance of saving your world or the universe._"

Tommy looked at the image as it faded from the screen, "Contact Dr. K, we need a way to get a message to the Megaship and recall them to earth.

"On it", Billy said.

"Dad", Crystal said, "What is the Frozen Star?"

"I don't know", Tommy replied, "But is someone with intentions like that is looking for it, then it can't be good." He hit a button on a console before picking up a microphone, "Attention all rangers, Report to Operations immediately, we have a problem."

* * *

**A/N: Here it is. The first Arc of the Frozen Star series is now complete. Keep an eye out for the second arc "Race To Destiny", coming soon. Thank you for reading and as always, reviews are appreciated.**


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